Sectional bookcase.



lliinelsaes;

J. W. CAMPBELL.

SEGTIONAL BOOKCASB.

PATENTED MAY 7, 1907.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.20. 1902.

' No. 852,769. PATENTBD MAY '7, 1907 J. w. CAMPBELL. SEGTIONAL BOOKGASE.

APPLICATION FILED JAILZQ. 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHBIJT rns NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, n. c

UNITED STA S Pn rEr oEErOE.

JAMES W. CAMPBELL, OF OI-IEVIOT, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEAS- SIGNMENTS, TO FERGUSON BROTHERS MFG. 00., OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SECTIONAL BOOKCASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1907.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cheviot, in the county of Columbia and State of New York, have invented a new and useful SectionalBookcase, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sectional bookcases and more particularly to that type of sectional bookcase in which the sections may be superposed one upon another to suit the requirements both as to capacity and location.

The object is to provide a bookcase of this type in which the doors of each section shall swing horizontally to open and close the section and in which the sections and doors may be advantageously nested for shipment.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front View in perspective of a two section bookcase, one of the doors of the lower section being. open, Fig. 2 is a front View in detail, in perspective, of one of the sections with doors omitted, Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section, Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical central section, Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of one of the sections, and Fig. 6 is a partial transverse vertical section in the plane of the line AA, Fig. 8.

The sections each consist of a bottom denoted by a, a back I) and ends 0, 0. They are so constructed that the bottom a of an upper section forms the top of the next lower section, the number of sections so-superposed being a question of choice as the top (1 and base 6 are intended to fit the top and bottom respectively of any one or another of the sections to complete the case.

The upper edge of the back I) and of the ends 0, c, and the bottom edges of the back I) and ends 0, c, are provided, the one with a tongue and the other with a groove for the reception of the tongue. In the present instance the top edges are provided with the tongue f and the bottom edges (see Fig. 5) w1th the groove f for the reception of the tongue f when the sections are superposed.

I prefer to form an additional interlocking device by placing pins 9, g, near the front edge of the ends 0, 0, into position to be received into holes h, 72 (see Fig. 5) in the bottom of the front under face of the bottom a.

In order to prevent the front edges of the bottoms a of the sections from sagging and thereby throwing the horizontally swinging doors out of position causing them to bind, I separate the body of the bottom a of the section from its front bar a throughout its entire length between the ends 0, 0, so that the weight of the books thereon, will not affect the bar a at the front but will simply de press the front edge 'of the body portiona of the bottom. This depression of the front edge of the body portion will not, however, be sufficient to show from the front of the case.

A stop "L is fixed to the under side of the front bar a of the bottom in proximity to the front edge of the body a (see Fig. 4-). A stop isimilar to the stop i is also attached to the bar a at its upper inner edges, these stops forming limits for the inward swing of the doors.

For the purpose of keeping the swinging motion of the doors wholly within the space at the front of the bookcase and to do away with any central partition or mullion intermediate of the ends of the section, I form the doors of each section in pairs hinged together at their adjacent ends and held in position by sockets attached to the front bars a of the sections and to a corresponding front bar d of the top (1.

The members of two pair of doors shown in connection with the two section bookcase which I have chosen to illustrate my invention, are denoted by j, j, and 7c, 76, the doors 7', j, being shown closed in Fig. 1 and the door of the pair 7c, 7:, being shown partially swung open, the swinging movement of any door with respect to its com anion door being from its closed position t rough the arc of a semi-circumference into engage ment with its companion door thereby serving to open the entire front of the section by first swinging one door to its full-open position and then the opposite door to its full Open position. The particular means for hinging the doors together and to the shelves will form the subject matter of a companion case filed of even date herewith, Serial No. 90,545.

For the purpose of the-present application,

the hinges which connect the members of a pair of doors together are provided with pintles which enter sockets Z, Z, Z (see Figs. 1 and 4) fixed to the front bars of the bottoms of the sections and to the front bar of the top.

For purposes of shipment all members of each pair of doors may be folded over together and placed within a section and the sections may be nested by reversing the one and slipping its ends inside of one end of the companion section and outside of the opposite end of the companion section as there is no central mullion or partition to prevent them from being compactly nested in this way.

To set up the case, the base 0 having been set in position, the section may be placed on it, a pair of doors being then placed in position with their lower pintle in the section Z at the front bar of the section placed on the base; then either the top at or another section, as the case may be, may be applied to the section first placed in position, entering the upper pintle of the pair of doors in the socket l or Z, as the case may be.

The members of a pair of doors will freely swing into and out of position and their supports at the front bars being maintained level no matter what the weight of the books may be upon the body of the bottoms of the sections, they will swing into and out of position without a tendency to bind or leave broad spaces for the entrance of dust. Fur thermore, the doors by being located where they will swing horizontally at the front of arranged to receive the glass from their inner faces.

What I claim is 1. A section of a sectional book case having the body portion and the front edge of its bottom separated whereby the weight upon the body of the bottom'will not depress the front of said bottom, and a door having one of its bearings upon the front of said bottom. x

2. In a sectional book case, the combina tion with a series of superposed sections having main bottom portions for the reception of books and supplemental bottom portions independent of said main bottom ortions, of doors hinged to said supplementa bottom portions.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two Witnesses, this 13th day of January 1902.

JAMES W. CAMPBELL.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, O. S. SUNDGREN. 

